Fire extinguishing apparatus



April 15, 1941. P. A. STOVER FIRE EXT INGUISHING APPARATUS Filed Aug.29, 1938 INVENTOR pau/ A. 5/over- @Me W ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 15, 19412,238,349 FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS Paul A. Stover, San Francisco,Calif., assignor to Fire-Gard Corporation, San Francisco, Calif., acorporation of Nevada Application August 29, 1938, Serial No. 227,351

2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to fire extinguishing apparatus of thetype making use of a quantity of fire extinguisher fluid like carbontetrachloride, which is automatically released when certain parts of theapparatus are heated beyond a predetermin d temperature. Moreparticularly the invention relates to apparatus of the type in which thefire extinguisher fluid is carried within a sealed container, withprovision, for causing inversion of this can upon dislodgement of aclosure or seal.

It is an object of the invention to provide improved apparatus of theabove character which will be positive and reliable in its automaticoperation, and which will be cheap to manufacture and simple to install.

Further objects of the invention will appear from the followingdescription in which the preferred embodiment of the invention has beenset forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. 7

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in cross section, illustratingapparatus incorporating the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus shown in Fig, 1,after automatic operation.

Fig. 3 is an end View of the can incorporated with the apparatus,looking at the lower end of the container as positioned in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the apparatus as illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional detail taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4. v

The apparatus as illustrated in the drawing consits of a container orcan III, which can be formed of ordinary sheet metal. The end wall I Iwhich is normally uppermost, is provided with a plurality of fluiddischarge openings I2. Extending over the area occupied by openings I2there is a closure member I3, which can also be formed of ordinary sheetmetal, and which for convenience is circular in contour. To facilitatemanufacture the end wall II can be provided with an integral annularshoulder I4 within which the closure wall I3 is seated. The periphery ofmember I3 is shown provided with an integral upturned annular flange I6.In order to afiord a seal which will automatically break when theclosure is heated to a given elevated temperature, as for exampletemperature of the order of 180 F., a peripheral portion of the closureI3 is sealed with respect to the wall II by means of suitable fusiblealloy or solder I'I. Such solders or alloys are well known in the artand may be selected to have a melting pointat a temperature desired forautomatic operation.

Attached to the lower end of the container there is a simple form ofbase I8, formed of pressed sheet metal, and preferably of slightlylarger diameter than the diameter of the container ID. This base isshown provided with integral struck-out tabs I9 which extend over thecrimped edge 2I of the container and which are 10] bent as indicated at22 in order to grip and form a firm attachment to the container.

In conjunction with the parts described above, there is a bail 23,formed of wire of suitable stiffness. The lower ends of this ball asshown in Fig. 1 are bent inwardly to form portions 24, which extendthrough apertures 26 in the base I8. The bail is dimensioned so thatboth inside and upper portions clear the sides and top of the container.Therefore the can can swing to the discharge position illustrated inFig. 2, without possibility of friction or jamming. There is also asecond bail 21 which normally embraces the intermediate portion of thebail 23, as shown in Fig. 1. This bail has bent portions 28 which extendthrough diametrically opposed openings 29 in the flange I6. As theapparatus is normally used bail 21 is attached to some suitable fixedsupport, as for example a supporting eyelet 3|.

The apparatus is normally as illustrated in Fig. 1, that is with theentire container and its contents being supported by the ball 21, andwith this bail embracing the intermediate portion of the bail 23. Thecontainer III contains a suitable fire extinguisher liquid, such ascarbon tetrachloride. In the event of a fire in the proximity of theapparatus, the end wall II of the container and also the closure I3become heated, and when a predetermined temperature is reachedcorresponding to the melting point of the fusible alloy II, the sealbetween the closure I3 and the container is suddenly disrupted, with theresult that the container drops down to a lower position in which thebail 23 is supported by bail 2'I, somewhat as illustrated in Fig. 2.Since there is nothing to retain the container in an upright position,the container immediately pivots about its lower end and swings to adischarge position as shown in Fig. 2. Preceding the instant when theclosure I3 becomes decomes detached, the contents of the container areheated with the result that considerable internal pressure is developed.Thus vapor pressure aids in securing abrupt removal of closure I3, andin addition it aids in discharging the fluid from the openings I2.

I claim:

1. In fire extinguisher apparatus, a container adapted to contain aquantity of fire extinguisher fluid like carbon tetrachloride, saidcontainer being provided with opposite end walls, one end Wall which isnormally uppermost being provided with opening for discharge of fireextinguisher fluid, a closure disposed over said openings and having aperipheral portion sealed to the adjacent end wall by a fusible metalalloy, a flanged base, means to detachably secure said base to the lowerend of the container, a bail having points of pivotal connection to saidbase, said bail being of sufiicient size to extend over the upper end ofthe container, and a member attached to said closure and embracing saidbail, said last member being adapted for connection to a fixed support.

2. In fire extinguisher apparatus, a container adapted to contain aquantity of fire extinguisher fluid like carbon tetrachloride, saidcontainer being provided with opposite end walls, the end wall which isnormally uppermost having openings for discharge of the fluid, a closuredisposed over said opening and having a peripheral portion of the samesealed to the adjacent end wall by a fusible metal alloy, an annularbase secured to the lower end of the container, said base forming adepending annular flange and being also provided with integral tabs bentto engage and form an attachment to the lower end of the container, abail having points of pivotal connection to said base, said bail beingof sufficient size to extend over the upper end of the container, and amember attached to said closure member and embracing an intermediateportion of the bail, said last named member being adapted for connectionto a fixed support.

PAUL A. STOVER.

